Following in the footsteps of New York City-area airports, which introduced passengers to chatty digital customer service avatars in May, Boston’s Logan International Airport has trotted out a new digital pal named “Carla.”

Passengers moving through a main security checkpoint at Terminal E will get a chance to check out Carla, who speaks in both English and Spanish and is a video projection of a woman dress as a Massport customer service rep.

She’s expected to help around 6,000 travelers per day, instructing passengers to have their IDs and boarding passes ready for inspection and reminding them of all the various garments they can’t have on and prohibited liquids.

The aim is to get Carla to free up Transportation Security Administration officers so they can focus on the actual screening process.

“Safety and security is our number one priority, and good security means good customer service,” said Massport Director of Aviation Ed Freni. “This new virtual greeter gives us an opportunity to collaborate with the TSA on a more efficient security checkpoint by educating passengers ahead of time on the do’s and the don’ts of security screening. Our best asset in making the security screening process move along faster is an informed and prepared customer.”

If Carla hits it off with passengers, more virtual assistants could crop up throughout the airport. Then, the inevitable robot revolution wherein mankind is enslaved. Maybe.

“Passengers moving through a main security checkpoint at Terminal E will get a chance to check out Carla, who speaks in both English and Spanish and is a video projection of a woman dress as a Massport customer service rep.”

Why can’t people just read signs? With so many people ignoring the clearly posted restriction signs how can Carla possibly help out screeners? Seems like a waste of money to me. Whomever is building these things has one hell of a sales force though, and the buyers must have money burning through their pockets.

I still think human avatars are disturbing. They’re over-cheerful and make me think of those evil robots in iRobot. Wouldn’t you rather see something like my avatar? People aren’t going to want to smuggle oversized containers of liquid past a snarling dragon!